Washington (CNN) - Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a key portion of the landmark Voting Rights Act, activists and those in states with a history of disenfranchisement at the polls are pinning their hopes on congressional action.

soundoff(12 Responses)

What motive do the Incredibles have to update the VRA, anyway? It's working just the way they want it, not at all.

July 17, 2013 03:39 pm at 3:39 pm |

Dutch/Bad Newz, VA -aka- Take Back The House -aka- No Redemption Votes

If republicans want to act in good faith and prove they're not racists bigots(as the College Republican National Committee stated they are), they would work with Democrats and restoring the Voting Rights Act. But that's not the case with the bunch of radical yahoos in the House. All TEApublicans care about is winning elections and to hell with legislating.

July 17, 2013 03:41 pm at 3:41 pm |

just sayin

the voting rights act is an outdated and unecessary intrusion on states. democrats and their non-stop race agenda use this outdated law to target and punish states now, not for real voting rights issues, but for their far left agenda like allowing anybody to walk into a voting booth to vote, whether they are a legal us citizen or not. they could case less about protecting the integrity of our elections. enough is enough.

July 17, 2013 04:02 pm at 4:02 pm |

The Real Tom Paine

-just sayin

the voting rights act is an outdated and unecessary intrusion on states. democrats and their non-stop race agenda use this outdated law to target and punish states now, not for real voting rights issues, but for their far left agenda like allowing anybody to walk into a voting booth to vote, whether they are a legal us citizen or not. they could case less about protecting the integrity of our elections. enough is enough.
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Ingtegrity of elections? Fine, lets start with the laws the GOP rammed through several state legislatures that almost disenfranchised thousands of legal voters. The GOP does not give a damn about the integrity of elections, only making sure that turnout of those segments of their population that they don't have a snowball's chance in hell is suppressed enough for them to win. As far as being an outdated and unnecessary intrusion on the states, the conservatives have made it abundantly clear they cannot be trusted with running a fair election in much of the country. Finally, define a real voting rights issue, or was that just another throwaway phrase from your bag of Rightie talk radio phrases? As long as we have people who cannot accept that this country in multiracial and multiethnic, we will have problems with race.

July 17, 2013 04:15 pm at 4:15 pm |

it must be said

This law was a bludgeon in the hands of a racist Eric Holder. He had no problem with two New Black Panthers standing in front of a polling place with a club. Yet he used this law to endlessly to intimidate and harrass states to push his political agenda.

July 17, 2013 04:30 pm at 4:30 pm |

Donna

Democrats living in the past. Want to bring the country back to the 50's and 60's. Isn't this what they are always accusing the Republicans of doing? Blacks and minorities hold many, many elected offices. Most of the districts where they live are run by Democrats and are the people running the election are black. these laws serve no useful purpose in this day and age.

July 17, 2013 04:34 pm at 4:34 pm |

tom l.

@Dutch,
Ahhhh, the soft bigotry of low expectations. That is you. And you are the one that just doesn't think that an African American can obtain an ID whereas I believe they are fully capable of that. It's sad that you think so little of an African American that they can't even obtain ID.

July 17, 2013 04:39 pm at 4:39 pm |

tom l.

@The Real Tom Paine,
I think you are lacking perspective when you charge that only repubs try to rig elections. They both do it. It's painfully obvious. I used to live in California and they completely gerrymandered districts to make sure they remained in control.
I must say that I believe you make some incredible assumptions about people that have a different skin pigmentation and it's alarming. First, you assume that just because someone isn't white that they can't think for themselves so, therefore, they are a democrat. And you also suffer from the soft bigotry of low expectations. What is so difficult about getting an ID? I just don't get it.

July 17, 2013 04:43 pm at 4:43 pm |

Dutch/Bad Newz, VA -aka- Take Back The House -aka- No Redemption Votes

It's sad that you think so little of an African American that they can't even obtain ID.
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Changing the rules of the game for political gain is beneath low when there is no evidence of massive voter fraud.

July 17, 2013 04:57 pm at 4:57 pm |

Sniffit

Section 3 is already being used to try to drag some of these racist states right back into the preclearance procedure. it allows the court to "bail in" a state or locale that is proving to act in a manner that indicates discriminatory intent, etc., and TX (for example) already created a giant record of its discriminatory intent in 2011 by trying to push a redistricting map that was proven in court to be INTENTIONALLY discriminatory against minorities, particularly Hispanics. There were even piles of emails in which these jackhole TX Teatrolls literally stated that their intent was to deliberately dilute the voting power of the growing Hispanic population and prevent them from swinging the state and certain districts purple....to "preserve" their districts by rearranging the lines to counteract the growth in Hispanic votes. WRONG.

Yes, the GOP/Teatrolls think they got handed a green light to start trying to "fix" their demographic "problem." Let them try. It will only build a record that gets them slapped right back into the preclearance requirement. They won't be having the last laugh on this. Not by a longshot. If you can't win, change the rules? See how that gets you. Please proceed.

July 17, 2013 05:16 pm at 5:16 pm |

tom l.

@Dutch,
Please. Since there is no ID taken, there is no way to know about massive voter fraud. All I know is that an ID would prove who the person is who wants to vote. I'm not sure why you would be against that.

And you didn't address the fact that you possess the soft bigotry of low expectations. Why don't you feel an African American can get an ID? Plus, "changing the rules of the game for political gain"??? Wow. I almost fell off of my chair when I read that one. I appreciate the humor. Thanks.

July 17, 2013 05:19 pm at 5:19 pm |

Sniffit

"That is you. And you are the one that just doesn't think that an African American can obtain an ID whereas I believe they are fully capable of that."

Oh shut up. When you have places like TX taking all sorts of IDs off the "approved" list and those IDs are all typically ALREADY owned by minorities throughout TX, but then approving use of a concealed carry permit as a form of ID, the discriminatory intent is blatantly obvious. Moreover, it doesn't matter what you blabber about "low expectations" from your smug little troll bubble. The historical record, data and studies PROVE that these ID laws have a disparate and discriminatory impact on minority communities. It's not even debatable...and no amount of your "they're capable of doing it, but they're just too lazy" racist nonsense fixes your position. Disparate impact is anathema to voting rights. Period.